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Recently the cocktail ice trend has gone spherical. This development started in Japan several years back with talented barmen carving beautiful round ice balls out of big chunks of ice. Witnessing this hand carving technique is fun and entertaining.

Part of the wonder is seeing all the ice shavings fly as the morbid thought of will carver lose a digit flashes through your mind. Emerging from this frenzied carving is always a gorgeous round ice ball that makes a wonderful clanging sound as it’s released into a low ball whiskey glass. The only thing better is savoring your perfectly chilled favorite Scotch, Whiskey, Bourbon, or Distilled Spirit as the bar crowd looks on at the spectacle. This scene is certainly luscious and imbues sex appeal for whiskey connoisseurs. Sociologists and psychologists are quick to point out how narcissistic our society has become. Though this may be true we do live in stressful and uncertain times so having a release is a welcome harbor in today’s climate. If you’re like most people hiring a barman at your beck and call to carve ice balls in your living room is probably not an option. Then, too there are several expensive ice presses on the market which will give you the same result still maintaining a level of fanfare but at a very high cost.

So unless you want to take ice ball carving classes, risking a finger or two while learning or you want to shell out between $800 – $1000 dollars for a fancy ice press what is your choice to be? This is the very question that the folks at Whiskey Rounders decided to solve. After studying all the different types of ice sphere makers available on the market our research led us to create a silicone ice ball mold that makes six balls at a once. Silicone was chosen for its flexibility which allows the ice balls to release from the mold easily without having to run water over them or wrestling with a plastic mold. Besides the flexibility and durability of silicone there were also the health considerations. For that very reason the premium silicone we selected to make our ice ball mold from is constructed from a BPA free food grade FDA approved silicone. This means that you will never have any chemical residue or after taste from the mold itself. A great side benefit is that the ice ball mold is dishwasher safe and is rated for baking up to 460°F. So when you are not creating ice balls you can bake perfect round rum cakes.

The other major drawback that we discovered during our testing phase was that the ice ball user wanted the ability to make more than one or two spheres at a time. The test subjects that owned multiple single molds, biggest gripe was that the molds would tip in their freezer. But by far the biggest complaint has to do with how to stockpile for parties. Having to make ice balls weeks in advance was drudgery. That led our design team to come up with a stable easy-to-use ice ball mold that makes six at a time and is interconnected for a solid feel. We also took care of the biggest issue with this type of mold by putting a clearly defined fill line so there would be no guesswork on how to fill the mold.”

This is what Richard D. from WM Labs had to say: “This mold makes SIX at once–I haven’t seen that anywhere else. So I can make a dozen pretty quickly and have a few in a bucket if I have a party, or store them and use a couple a night just for myself (when I must drink alone). That’s a huge advantage.” If you abhor watered down drinks and think ice balls cool then the only question that remains is are you ready to go spherical with your home based cocktail ice? Best wishes as you embark onto the road to well-rounded entertaining.